Every bar of Aleppo soap carries a number: 5%, 20%, 40%, sometimes 70%. It is the first thing sellers advertise and the thing buyers ask about most. Yet few explain what it measures, why it changes the price, or how to choose.
This guide answers all three, with the numbers behind them, so you can pick the right bar the first time.
Key takeaways
- The percentage is the share of laurel berry oil in the bar's oils. Olive oil makes up the rest.
- Laurel oil is scarce. Traditional boiling recovers only about 10% of berry weight as oil (Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, 2001), so a 40% bar takes roughly 4 kg of berries per kilogram of oils.
- More laurel changes scent and price, from almost neutral at 0% to deep bay at 40%. It does not make the bar clean better.
- Bars on sale range from 1% to 70%, and most sit between 1% and 40%.
- Choose by the scent you enjoy, not by promises about skin types.
What the laurel percentage means
The laurel percentage is the share of laurel berry oil among the oils used to make the bar. Olive oil makes up the rest. A 20% bar is made from 20% laurel oil and 80% olive oil; a 40% bar from 40% laurel and 60% olive.
The number describes the oil blend before saponification, the reaction that turns oils into soap. The finished bar also contains water and the glycerin the reaction produces, so laurel is not literally 40% of the bar's weight. For the full ingredient picture, see our guide to Aleppo soap ingredients.
A "100% olive" or "0% laurel" bar is still Aleppo soap if it is made the traditional way. It simply leaves the laurel out.
Why laurel oil costs more
Laurel oil is the expensive half of every Aleppo bar, and the reason is in how it is made. Families gather the berries of the wild bay laurel in autumn, boil them until they split, and skim off the oil that rises (UNESCO, 2024).
That method is slow and wasteful by modern standards. A 2001 study at Hatay Mustafa Kemal University found that laurel berries contain about 20% oil on average, but traditional boiling recovers only around 10% (Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, 2001). In other words, about 10 kg of hand-picked berries yield 1 kg of oil.
Run that through a bar and the gap becomes clear. Every kilogram of oils in a 10% bar needs about 1 kg of berries. In a 40% bar, it needs about 4 kg. Olive oil, by comparison, is produced at industrial scale across the Mediterranean.
Pro Tip: Use the price as a sanity check. If a seller's 40% bar costs the same as their 5% bar, ask how they make it. Our guide on how to spot fake Aleppo soap covers six more checks.
What changes as laurel rises, and what does not
The laurel share changes the character of a bar in three ways you can notice:
- Scent. Laurel oil carries the green, earthy, slightly resinous smell of bay leaf. At 0% the bar smells mildly of olive oil; at 40% the bay note is clear and lasting.
- Colour. Laurel oil is dark green, so higher-laurel bars often look deeper green when cut. Batches vary, so treat colour as a hint, not a measurement.
- Price. More laurel means more scarce oil and a higher cost to make.
What does not change is the basic job. Every strength is a true soap that cleans the same way, by lifting dirt and oil so water can rinse them away. Our guide to Aleppo soap benefits explains what the research does and does not show about laurel.
Laurel berry oil itself is mostly oleic acid, the same fatty acid that dominates olive oil: about 55% in one 2021 analysis (Türkmen and Koçer, 2021). That is part of why the strengths feel similar in use, and differ most in scent.
The four strengths compared
Here is how the four strengths in our Aleppo soap range compare side by side:
| Bar | Oil blend | Laurel berries per kg of oils | Scent | A good pick if you want | Price from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pure Olive | 100% olive | None | Mild, almost neutral | The least scent | €7.90 |
| 10% Laurel | 10% laurel, 90% olive | About 1 kg | A light note of bay | A first taste of laurel | €9.90 |
| 20% Laurel | 20% laurel, 80% olive | About 2 kg | Clear bay, earthy | The classic Aleppo bar | €12.90 |
| 40% Laurel | 40% laurel, 60% olive | About 4 kg | Deep, resinous bay | The most laurel | €18.90 |
Pure Olive (0% laurel)
The pure olive bar has no laurel at all, so it is the mildest and least scented of the four. It is also the most affordable, from €7.90. Pick it if you want Aleppo soap's simplicity with almost no fragrance.
10% Laurel
The 10% laurel bar adds a light note of bay without dominating. It is the easiest introduction if you have never used laurel soap and want to see whether you like the scent.
20% Laurel
The 20% laurel bar is the classic Aleppo balance: a clear, earthy bay scent with olive oil still at the core. It sits right at the top of the 2-20% range Wikipedia describes as typical, above the 16% it calls higher quality (Wikipedia).
40% Laurel
The 40% laurel bar carries the most laurel in our range and the deepest, most resinous bay scent. It costs the most, from €18.90, because it takes about four times the berries of a 10% bar per kilogram of oils.
What else is on the market
We reviewed the Aleppo soaps appearing in Google results for "aleppo soap" in the US and UK in October 2026. The strengths on offer ran from 1% to 70% laurel.
A few patterns stand out. Most sellers cluster between 1% and 40%, with 20% and 40% the most common. A handful of specialists sell 50% and 70% bars. Large makers like Alepia offer 1%, 5%, 25% and 40%, and note that they could make 50% or more but rarely do because of the price of laurel oil (Alepia).
Odd-looking numbers, such as 16% or 25%, are usually a maker's own house recipe. They are not more or less authentic than round numbers. Our guide to the best Aleppo soap brands compares the best-known makers.
Is a higher laurel percentage better?
Not automatically. Wikipedia notes that bars with more than 16% laurel are often considered higher quality (Wikipedia). But a high number on a badly made bar does not make it a good soap.
Even makers say so. Alepia writes that it would prefer "a good Aleppo soap with 1% of laurel oil" over a 30% bar that lacks the same craftsmanship (Alepia). The quality of the oils, the cooking and the cure matter as much as the percentage.
A properly cured bar of any strength is hard, dry and green inside under a tan crust. Our guide to why Aleppo soap is cured for months explains why that matters.
Why we do not match strengths to skin types
Many sellers, including large brands, recommend specific strengths for specific skin types. You will often read that low-laurel bars suit one kind of skin and high-laurel bars another.
We do not, for a simple reason: in our research we did not find a published study that tests those pairings. They come from tradition and marketing, not from trials. The differences we can stand behind are the ones you can check yourself: oil blend, scent and price.
So we suggest choosing the way you would choose a coffee or a tea, by taste. If you have a skin condition, a dermatologist is the right person to ask, whichever bar you consider. Our article on Aleppo soap side effects and pH covers the basics every buyer should know.
How to choose your strength
- Smell it first if you can. Scent is the biggest difference between strengths.
- Start in the middle if unsure. 10% or 20% shows you the laurel character without committing to the strongest bar.
- Compare side by side. Using two strengths in the same week makes the difference obvious.
- Set your budget. Higher laurel costs more per bar, so decide what the scent is worth to you.
Pro Tip: Laurel scent softens a little as you use the bar and as its surface dries between uses. Judge a strength after a week, not after the first wash. More in our guide on how to use Aleppo soap.
Compare all four strengths. Our soap collection shows Pure Olive, 10%, 20% and 40% side by side, so you can find your favourite - free EU shipping over €50.
Frequently asked questions
Was bedeuten 10 %, 20 % und 40 % Lorbeeröl?
Die Prozentangabe bezeichnet den Anteil an Lorbeerbeerenöl in den verwendeten Ölen. Bei 20 % sind es 20 % Lorbeeröl und 80 % Olivenöl, bei 40 % entsprechend 40 % und 60 %. Sie bedeutet nicht, dass die fertige Seife zu diesem Anteil aus unverseiftem Lorbeeröl besteht. Unsere reine Olivenölseife enthält kein Lorbeeröl.
Ist mehr Lorbeeröl immer besser?
Nein. Der Lorbeeranteil beschreibt die Rezeptur, keine Qualitätsstufe. Bei ALEPO steigt mit dem Anteil die Intensität des Lorbeerdufts und der Preis. Bevorzugst du einen dezenten Duft oder möchtest du kein Lorbeeröl, ist unsere reine Olivenölseife eine passende Alternative.
Welche Aleppo-Seife passt zum Einstieg?
Wähle reines Olivenöl für den dezentesten Duft, 10 % Lorbeeröl für eine leichte Lorbeernote, 20 % für einen deutlicheren oder 40 % für den kräftigsten Lorbeerduft im Sortiment. Im Entdecker-Set findest du alle vier Sorten zum Vergleichen. Orientiere dich an Duft, Inhaltsstoffen und Budget: Ein höherer Lorbeeranteil sagt nichts über eine medizinische Wirkung aus.
Warum kostet die Seife mit 40 % Lorbeeröl mehr?
Sie enthält mehr Lorbeerbeerenöl, das in der Regel teurer als Olivenöl ist. Vergleiche neben dem Stückpreis auch den Preis pro 100 g: Unsere reine Olivenölseife wiegt laut Angabe 200 g, die Sorten mit 10 % und 20 % jeweils 225 g und die Sorte mit 40 % 190 g. Ein höherer Preis oder Lorbeeranteil allein beweist keine bessere Qualität.
The bottom line
The laurel percentage is the share of laurel berry oil in an Aleppo bar, and it mainly sets the scent and the price. Laurel costs more because about ten kilograms of hand-picked berries make one kilogram of oil.
No strength is best for everyone. Pick the scent you enjoy, from the mild pure olive bar to the deep bay of 40%. And if a bar's price does not match its number, look closer. New to the subject? Start with our guide to what Aleppo soap is.
Find your strength. Four laurel strengths, made in Aleppo, cured the traditional way. Shop all four Aleppo soaps - free EU shipping over €50.
Sources
- Hatay Mustafa Kemal University. "Defne meyvası yağ veriminin arttırılması ve bileşiminin gaz kromatografi cihazı ile belirlenmesi" (Increasing laurel fruit oil yield). 2001. https://openaccess.mku.edu.tr/items/c8cfe679-1e0e-47d1-a641-3fa218b1cadb
- UNESCO. "Craftsmanship of Aleppo Ghar soap." 2024. https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/craftsmanship-of-aleppo-ghar-soap-02132
- Wikipedia. "Aleppo soap." Accessed 4 October 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleppo_soap
- Alepia. "Choose your Aleppo soap." Accessed 4 October 2026. https://alepia.com/gb/blog/advices/choose-your-aleppo-soap
- Türkmen M., Koçer O. "Variation of components in laurel (Laurus nobilis L.) fixed oil extracted by different methods." International Journal of Chemistry and Technology, 2021. https://openaccess.mku.edu.tr/items/33f7e399-2530-4ebe-b6c1-59db5670f418/full
- Google search results for "aleppo soap", US and UK, observed by Alepo on 4 October 2026. https://www.google.com/search?q=aleppo+soap
